AlexandriaArchaeology

V O L U N T E E R N E W SPublished by the Friends of Alexandria Archaeology

Vol. XXXV No. 1 WInter 2014

IN THIS ISSUE

Volunteer Party, page 1

FOAA Focus, page 2

FOAA Annual Gift page 3

Interns, docents, page 4

Hats Off, John Glaser page 5

War of 1812, page 6

OnCell, 1812 Lectures page 7

Sam Finz Collectionpage 8

Julia Wilbur, page 9

Lab, page 10

Java Jolts, page 11

Education, page 12

What does a picture say page 13

Field Review, page 14

Calendar of Events, back cover See Volunteer Party, page 3

2013 Volunteer Appreciation Party: 114 volunteers contributed 8,234.75 hours for FY 13

By Becca Siegal

The Alexandria Archaeological Commission and Friends of Alexandria Archaeology hosted the 36th annual Volunteer Appreciation and Holiday Party at the Museum on Saturday, November 23, 2013. The entire staff of the Museum thanked the volunteers for all their contributions during the year with this very special annual event. This year about 60 people enjoyed this marvelous shindig, with its fabulous food prepared by Jennifer Barker, with help from the rest of the staff.At the party, FOAA Vice President Margarete Holubar presented Acting City Archaeologist, Fran Bromberg, with a $2,000 check for the purpose of “Inspiring Collections Research.” See page 3 for the details.

Margarete also presented a surprised Pam Cressey with the John S. Glaser Award. The award is presented each year “for contributions to the appreciation and conservation of Alexandria Archae-ology and its place in the continuity of the human experience.” John Glaser was present as the award named in his honor was given for the 24th year.

Fran Bromberg highlighted the different activities that vol-unteers and staff have worked on during the past year. Intern Becca Siegal put together a slideshow of pictures from the year.

Becca Siegal was declared the Volunteer of the Year for her amazing 1294.5 volunteer hours. Vice Mayor Alison Silver-berg, Councilwoman Del Pepper, and Councilman John Chap-man were on hand to present certificates to the volunteers who contributed more than 90 hours in FY 2013. These volunteers included Ted Pulliam (91.5 hours), Shirley Brott (92.5 hours), Laura Little (96 hours), Vince Lapointe (104 hours), Sam Des-rochers (107.25 hours), Andrew Flora (120.75 hours), Philippa Harrap (121.5 hours), Jill Grinsted (125.5 hours), Kory Pot-zler (167 hours), Ben Kirby (189.25 hours), Marya Fitzgerald

The buffet table

Fran presents Pam with Glaser Award

Newsletter Production: Marya Fitzgerald, Sarah McEntee, Ruth Reeder, Becca Siegal. Contributors: Pamela Cressey, Garrett Fesler, Stephanie Grimes, Alex Karpa, Linda Lovell, Sarah McEntee, Paul Nasca, Ruth Reeder, Becca Siegal, Charles Simpson., and Terilee Edwards-Hewitt Photos: Linda Lovell, Sarah McEntee, Paul Nasca, Ruth Reeder, Ann Cameron Siegal, Becca Siegal, Charles Simpson. Volunteer News is published by the Friends of Alexandria Archaeology (FOAA) with support from Alexandria Archaeology and the City of Alexandria.

FRIENDS OF ALEXANDRIA ARCHAEOLOGY is a not-for-profit organization supporting archaeology in the City of Alexandria. Annual membership dues may be sent to: FOAA

P.O. Box 320721 Alexandria, VA 22320

Individual - $20 Family/Groups - $25 Sponsor - $50 Benefactor - $100 Corporate - $500

2012-2013 FOAA Board of DirectorsLiz Kelley, president; Margarete Holubar, vice-president; Katie Wagenblass, treasurer; Laura Heaton, secretary; Mary Jane Nugent, AAC representative; Joan Amico, Marya Fitzgerald, Indy McCall, Kathy Scheibelhoffer, Becca Siegal, and Paula Whitacre; members of the Board; Ruth Reeder, liaison from the Museum; Alison “Hoosey” Hughes, friend of the Board

Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News ISSN 0894-2625105 North Union Street, #327Alexandria, VA 22314703.746.4399www.AlexandriaArchaeology.org

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Page Two Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - Winter 2014

Friends of Alexandria Archaeology: FOAA in Focus...

BE SURE TO VISIT THE ALEXANDRIA ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM ON FACEBOOK

FROM THE FOAA PRESIDENTby Liz Kelley

What is FOAA & Why Should I Join?

Friends of Alexandria Archaeol-ogy (FOAA) was founded in 1986 by a small group of vol-unteers interested in promoting

and supporting Alexandria Archaeology volunteer oppor-tunities. Since those early days the membership group has grown, not only in numbers, but with financial and public support as well. FOAA brings you this quarterly newsletter, the Java Jolt Lectures, Art Safari, First Night Alexandria, Summer Camp scholarships, and the famous GW, Parade, see page 9. Their annual gift to Alexandria Archaeology has funded conservation efforts (see page 3, “FOAA Annual Gift”).

The FOAA annual elections are scheduled for Saturday, March 22 at 10 a.m. in the Alexandria Archaeology Mu-seum. This is a public meeting and all FOAA members in good standing are eligble to vote. This is a great time to jump in and join the board! The annual meeting is followed by the elections of officers, and FOAA is always interested in recruiting new people with new ideas. Please join us and be part of what we do! The FOAA Membership Form is on page 18.

A special thanks to all of our generous Friends, including our many new members, whose donations and volunteer hours contribute so much to archaeology and the pursuit of knowledge.

As always, we look forward to welcoming new members to share our passion for archaeology in Alexandria!

Happy New Year, and see you soon!

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Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - Winter 2014 Page Three

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(314.75 hours), Kelsey Reed (409.25 hours), Catherine Cartwright (436 hours), Robert Colton (658.75 hours), Joan Amico (707 hours), Anna Lynch (988 hours), and Becca Siegal.

From July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2013, the Museum ben-efited from 8,234.75 volun-teer hours from 114 vol-unteers. Since 1979, when hours were first recorded, volunteers have contributed more than 242,000 hours total to Alexandria Archae-ology!

Becca Sie-gal helped Vice Mayor Silverberg and Coun-cilwoman Pepper break the cross-mend-

ing plate. The pieces of the plate are now in the museum for visitors to put together as a puzzle.Fran Bromberg thanked all present for all their dedication and hard work.

FOAA Annual Gift: Inspiring Collections ResearchBy Paul Nasca

Each year the Friends of Alexandria Archaeology (FOAA) presents the Alexandria Archaeology Museum with a gen-erous financial gift. This year, at the 39th annual Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer Appreciation & Holiday Party, FOAA Vice-President, Margarete Holubar, presented Act-ing City Archaeologist, Francine Bromberg, with a check in the amount of $2000! This donation is to be used for “Inspiring Collections Research.”

Staff and student researchers at Alexandria Archaeology continue to seek new and untold stories hidden within Alexandria’s extensive artifact collections. One avenue of inquiry that is taking shape is an examination of the col-lection’s American pictorial flasks. These small whiskey bottles were very popular from 1825 to 1870. Though whole specimens are a very rare find on an archaeologi-cal site, fragments are common and have been recovered from numerous excavations in the City, such as those at the Alexandria Courthouse, Market Square, Fort Ward, and Shuter’s Hill. The bottles often portray patriotic images, like the American eagle with shield or the Charter Oak, as well as historical figures such as George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. The American fervor communi-cated by these bottles is juxtaposed with the intoxicant that was once contained within. This year’s FOAA annual gift will help to advance the investigation of these interesting bottles and inspire other collections-based research. Thank you, FOAA, for your outstanding support!

Volunteer Party, cont from page 1

A pictorial flask recovered from Market Square embossed withthe Charter Oak and word “LIBERTY”

Becca, Shanna, and Garrett

The cake

FOAA VP Margarete Holubar & Councilwoman Del Pepper

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Page Four Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News -Winter 2014

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Charles SimpsonMy name is Charles Simpson. I am from Arlington, Virginia, and have been living in the area all my life. I am currently a senior at George Mason University studying anthropology as an

undergraduate. I have had interest in archaeology since I was in high school. This has been a great year in exploring my interest. During the spring I participated in field school at Mount Vernon. Our class got the opportunity to dig in front of the kitchen to look for the original foundation. On Saturdays I had the pleasure to be a volunteer helping Alex-andria Archaeology excavate Shuter’s Hill. My experience with and interest in Alexandria Archaeology has led to the internship I have today.

Since I spent the summer helping the crew excavate the Shuter’s Hill laundry, it made sense to have my internship revolve around understanding and interpreting the laundry yard. My internship is focused on gathering all the data from the excavated site, putting it into one database, and ultimately pulling up specifics from the artifacts, as to the soil types, specific features, and so on. The goal is to find out the role the laundry yard had with the 1850’s house and the estate at Shuter’s Hill.

Stephanie GrimesMy name is Stephanie Grimes.This December I received my MA in art his-tory from George Mason University. My introduction to archaeology began as a field school participant with the Balkan Heritage Foun-dation, where I worked at a late Roman site in the Repub-lic of Macedonia during July 2011. Upon returning to the states, I began volunteering for Alexandria Archaeology at Shuter’s Hill, which led to my internship with the museum. Throughout the fall I have worked towards making the Shuter’s Hill and the Freedmen’s Cemetery exhibits more accessible to and comprehensive for visitors.

I am professionally interested in working with museums to bring their collections out from storage and into the pub-lic eye through the use of digital media. Fortunately, the Alexandria Archaeology Museum has extended my intern-ship into the spring and is allowing me to use their ceram-ics collection to create an interactive digital catalogue for my professional portfolio. I look forward to continuing my work with the museum and its community.

The Interns’ Turn

New Docent Linda LovellI grew up in Kentucky but have lived in Northern Virginia my entire adult life. I came to the area five days after college graduation to work as a chemist for the federal government. Hav-ing an interest in history, I began volunteering at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum over thirty years ago. Presently I am a fulltime volun-teer for the Apothecary Museum in Old Town, while still helping

with special events at Gadsby’s. I am a past president of the Gadsby’s Tavern Museum Society and the current president of the Mortar and Pestle Society.

New Docent Sarah McEnteeSarah McEntee is our new Saturday docent, who joined Alexandria Archeology in early January. She currently works as a systems engineer for a government contractor, but studied history as an undergraduate at the College of William and Mary, where she focused on Colonial Ameri-can history. In addition to greeting visitors, Sarah plans to assist with transcribing claims from the War of 1812, proofreading materials and supporting special events. She has also jumped right in with cleaning and sorting our Shuter’s Hill artifacts, having spent many summer vacations in Maine collecting artifacts from the ocean. Please join us in welcoming Sarah to the organization!

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Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News -Winter 2014 Page Five

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John GlaserBy Pam CresseyCity Archaeologist 1977-2012

John Glaser thinks big and also does many small tasks to bring about a better world. I was most fortunate the day in 1977 that John came to visit our first exca-vation on the 500 block of King Street. John immediately wanted to jump into a privy to start pull-

ing out artifacts! We held him back, but he volunteered many days to rediscover forgotten artifacts with great joy, regardless of how he looked while in pursuit in the privies. Very early on, John saw the value of community archaeol-ogy to the town, to neighborhoods, to groups and to the individuals who volunteer or learn about the results of our work. I so appreciated his big thoughts regarding how valuable archaeology can be in peoples’ lives—I never re-alized that archaeology could have such meaning to people! When the Friends of Alexandria Archaeology (FOAA) was organizing in 1986, John played a significant role in crafting the organization’s purpose. John brought his global view of humanistic values accumulated through decades of work helping others to the formation of FOAA’s mission statement: To develop a common movement for the appre-ciation and conservation of Alexandria Archaeology and its place in the continuity of human experience. John’s words continue to motivate me whether I am conducting archival research, working on a planning document, or interviewing someone for oral history or teaching. Thankfully, FOAA has enriched our ability to reach out and touch people. I am grateful to John, to all the founding members of FOAA, to the officers of the Board who have maintained and reinvented FOAA over the years, to the members, and to Ruth Reeder for her great support of FOAA. Thanks to all of you, we have been able to go beyond dirt, artifacts, and facts to stories, trails, parks, memorials, school programs, and tours, so thousands appreciate that places, hidden and visible, enrich our lives and our communities.

Editor’s note: Joining John in establishing FOAA were Phil Erikson and Bill Arnold, who drafted its goals, and Liz Dietrich and Lowell Kloch, who prepared ideas for imple-mentation. The first elected Board of Directors included Lowell Kloch, President; John Glaser, Vice President; Mary Jane Nugent, Secretary; and Liz Dietrich, Treasurer.

Hats Off!Where to start? As always, our volunteers have given us their all. We had an opportunity to honor them at the annual Volunteer Appreciation Party on November 23, at which Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg, Councilwom-an Del Pepper, and Councilman John Chapman presented 90-hour-plus Awards to 17 of our stellar volunteers. See page one for their names and the number of hours each of them donated.

Great thanks are in order to the following volunteers:

Education Volunteers: Anna Lynch, Marya Fitzgerald, Philippa Har-rap, Margarete Holubar, Becca Siegal, Stephanie Grimes, and Hoosey Hughes, who since July (the start of FY14) have introduced and engaged 479 young minds to the wonders of archaeology,

Andy Flora for spending his furlough days working meticulously on the Shuter’s Hill site map,

Neil Pelletier for his watercolor renderings of designs and patterns from the Museum’s pearlware collection,

Julianne Powers with GIS,

Laura Little for her continued dedication to the Oral History Project,

Robert Colton, Michael Stratmoen, Elizabeth Field, Anna Lynch, Ted Pulliam, and Jeane Stetson for helping us better understand Alexandria’s involvement in the War of 1812,

Anatoly Policastro, Ben Kirby, Alex Karpa, Julie Diewald, Monica Bonilla, and Suzanne Schaubel for serving as Summer Camp 2013 Unit Buddies and to Evan Welch for capturing it all on film,

Peggy Harlow and Paula Whitacre for their soon-to-be-online Alexandria Civil War Hospitals Project,

Catherine Cartwright for her Fort Ward research,

Joan Amico, Marya Fitzgerald, Anna Lynch, Linda Lovell and Becca Siegal for their commitment as museum docents,

Joan Amico, Marya Fitzgerald, Laura Heaton, Margarete Holubar, Hoosey Hughes, Liz Kelley, Elizabeth McCall, Mary Jane Nugent, Kathy Scheibelhoffer, Becca Siegal, Katie Wagenblass, and Paula Whitacre for serving on the Friends of Alexandria Archaeology (FOAA) Board,

Kathleen Pepper, Ann Davin, Kevin McCandlish, Seth Tinkham, Ralph Rosenbaum, Janice Magnuson, Mary Jane Nugent, Ellen Hamilton, Katy Cannady, Elizabeth McCall, Vince LaPointe, Jacob Hoogland, and Don Kent for serving on the Alexandria Archaeological Commission (AAC),

Paula Whitacre and Jill Grinsted for the Julia Wilbur Diary Project.

See page 10 for a list of our patient lab volunteers and page16 for our hardy field volunteers.

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Page Six Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - WInter 2014

War of 1812 by Robert Colton

On August 14, 1814, the British Army attacked Washing-ton, DC. The British forces came overland from the Patux-ent River and after burning the White House, the Treasury, the War and Navy Departments, and the Capitol, they left Washington on August 25, returning to Benedict, Maryland, on the Patuxent. The British plan called for a squadron of the Royal Navy (9 ships) to come up the Potomac River in support of the attack on Washington. The Squadron en-countered shallow water and sand bars and did not reach Alexandria, DC, until August 28.

The Town of Alexandria was left defenseless after the fed-eral government’s failure to defend Washington and by the destruction of Fort Washington on the Potomac River by American forces fleeing the Royal Navy Squadron ascend-ing the Potomac.

The town surrendered to the British squadron to avoid being burned. From August 29 to September 2, the British looted the town, taking cash, flour, tobacco, fish, wine, ship supplies, and other supplies. They took 21 ships to carry their booty. There is also a report that 24 slaves left with the British, because the British had promised them their freedom. Some enlisted in the Royal Marines; others settled in Nova Scotia or the West Indies as free people.

During their voyage down the Potomac, the British were attacked by Virginia militia at White House (now Fort Bel-voir). However, the British beat off the attacks and returned to the Chesapeake Bay.

The Treaty of Ghent ending the war was signed on Decem-ber 24, 1814. Fighting continued into February 1815, given the delays in receiving word of the treaty and its ratifica-tion in February 1815. The treaty provided for payment of claims for property taken during the war. The differing interpretations of this provision would delay the claims process for years.

In July 1815 Alexandria collected affidavits from its citi-zens about their losses. These and later claims were submit-ted to the Commission appointed to consider claims. When the procedure for claims was finally resolved in 1826, three claims for slaves and 28 merchant claims were on the “de-finitive list” of claims to be considered. The British settled for an amount equal to about one half of the US claims.

Most of the money went to slave claims from the South.

The Commission awarded two of the Alexandria slave claims. One was to Alexander Perry for Henrietta Perry’s claim for a slave named Samuel. The other was to Basil Hatton for a slave named John (or Jonas). The claim of Nehemiah Carson for a slave named Rose was rejected. The 28 claims

of merchants for property valued at $113,106.77 were all rejected in 1828. There is no record of any claim for the 24 slaves reported to have left Alexandria with the British.

What happened to the slaves from Alexandria that left with the British? The records provided by the Royal Navy for the claims process only list slaves and other refu-gees on British ships after the ratification of the treaty. The slaves who left earlier appear to have gone either to Bermuda, where some worked, or to Nova Scotia. Slaves leaving later went to Nova Scotia or the West Indies.

The claims records at the National Archives provide insight into Alexandria at the time of the War of 1812. Records include affidavits listing property taken, the names of the merchants, sometimes where their business was located, and receipts for tobacco deposited in ware-houses before and during the war. The records also give us some insight into trade at the time. For example, one of the Alexandria claimants was claiming on behalf of a merchant in Maine who had sent his flour to Alexandria for shipment.

Failure to pay claims in this instance is not unusual. Most claims after the Revolution, Civil War, and other wars were never reimbursed.

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Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - Winter 2014 Page Seven

Free LecturesCommemorating the War of 1812

Presented by the Office of Historic Alexandria and Alexandria Historical Society

Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.The Lyceum Lecture Hall, 201 South Washington Street

Feb. 26 - Lisa Kraus -- “Archaeology of the War of 1812: From Barney’s Flotilla to Bladensburg.” Dr. Kraus is an archaeologist with the Maryland State High-way Administration’s (SHA) Cultural Resources Division, where she has worked since 2009. Prior to her work for the State of Maryland, she worked as a professional ar-chaeologist and occasional college instructor for ten years, primarily in the mid Atlantic. Her work for the bicenten-nial of the War of 1812 has taken her all over the Chesa-peake region in search of battlefields, sunken ships, field hospitals, forts, and anything else that might have played an important role in the events leading up to the Battle of Baltimore in 1814. She also writes and edits a blog for SHA about the archaeology of the War of 1812 (http://www.warof1812archaeology.blogspot.com/).

March 26 - Stuart Butler -- “Defending the Old Domin-ion: Virginia and its Militia in the War of 1812.”

April 23 - Steve Vogel -- “Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved the Nation.”

May 28 - Patrick O’Neill --”The Battle of the White House.”

OnCell TourBy Alex Karpa Over the past few months, researchers at Alexandria Archaeology have been hard at work recov-ering the story of the British invasion of Alexandria during the War of 1812. This has meant searching through primary source documents and making sense of the numerous tales surrounding the invasion as they have come to be interpret-ed today. From this research we find that it was late August of 1814, the Capitol was engulfed in flames, Fort Washing-ton was destroyed, and the British squadron was quickly coming up the Potomac with Alexandria as its target. In order to protect the defenseless city, Mayor Charles Simms and his Committee of Vigilance readily surrendered Alex-andria to the British, permitting the Royal Navy to take a great amount of goods and supplies from the warehouses along the waterfront. For five days, fear simmered through the streets of Alexandria, as the city’s inhabitants knew that if any incident violated the terms of capitulation, they would have no chance against the British squadron. All of the D.C. area froze, waiting for the pin to drop that would cause the British to turn their guns on Alexandria. Believe it or not, although tensions were at their peak, the invasion left the city relatively unscathed; it lost only the document-ed goods the British intended to take. This War of 1812 research has led Alexandria Archaeol-ogy through a maze of historic figures and places that were prominent during the early 19th century in Alexandria. Interestingly enough, while the British occupation lasted a mere five days, remnants of the invasion can still be found scattered around Old Town. As the bicentennial celebration of the Invasion of 1814 approaches in August, an OnCell Tour retelling the story of these five days will be available to history buffs visiting Old Town. Using OnCell, visitors can participate in a self-guided War of 1812 quest through a cellular app on their smartphones. With voices of historic figures imparting their tales of the invasion, users will read clues and answer questions in order to follow the route of historic locations around Old Town. Users will learn through the personal recollections of Alexandrian busi-

ness owners Edward Stabler and Thomas Triplett; British midshipman John West Fraser and the assault that almost sacrificed the whole city; and Mayor Simms, as he had to choose to surrender Alexandria without firing a shot. Alexandria Archaeology is eager to release this OnCell tour, as the research has called attention to a significant affair in Alexandria’s past. While much of the story has been uncovered, research has continuously revealed new connections, material, and personal accounts that have shaped the interpretation of the War of 1812 in Alexandria. With the bicentennial approaching, this is an exciting time for the city to situate its past within the context of one of America’s defining episodes as a new nation. Alexandria Archaeology is excited to share its knowledge and research with the community.

Dr. Samuel DeButts and his wife Mary Welby owned the Mount Welby property from 1805 to 1843.Artist: St. Memin, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery

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Page Eight Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - Winter 2014

The Sam Finz CollectionBy Paul Nasca

As the collection’s manager, I see a wide variety of artifacts brought into the Alexandria Archaeology Museum by the public. The majority of these objects are fascinating tidbits of the city’s past – a colorful piece of ceramic, an old bottle, a brass bell found in a chimney, or even a handful of carved Mexican onyx chess pieces. On occasion, however, something really special comes through the door. That is what happened recently when Sam Finz walked in with two bulging shopping bags containing artifacts excavated from an old well.

Back in the 1980s and early 90s, Sam was the owner of the property at 124 North Alfred Street in Old Town. During improvements to the historic building in the mid 80s, ac-cording to Sam, there was a pesky “sinkhole” in the parking lot, right where a new addition was to be located. Beneath the pavement, that sinkhole turned out to be an abandoned well shaft. To proceed with the planned improvements, Mr. Finz was instructed to excavate the soil and rubble from the well and then fill it in with concrete. (Keep in mind this was before the Alexandria Archaeological Resources Pro-tection Code was enacted!) Knowing the historical value of what might be contained in the well, Sam opted to have the lowest layers excavated by hand, instead of their being scooped out by a backhoe. As a result of that laborious and dangerous work, a quantity of artifacts was recovered. Following excavation, Sam proceeded to carefully wash, label, catalog, and individually wrap each artifact in paper with the hopes of creating an exhibit in the new building. Unfortunately, this plan was never realized. But Sam never really forgot about the artifacts from the well.

Now, more than 20 years later, Sam brought those artifacts in to the Alexandria Archaeology Museum for the pur-pose of donating them to the city. As I began to unpack the shopping bags and unwrap each faded and yellowing newspaper bundle, I was unsure of just what to expect. But slowly a remarkable assemblage of artifacts excavated from a single context began to emerge – multiple fragments of decorated English plates and two tea pots, a chamber pot in a dozen pieces, porcelain plate fragments from China, shards of locally produced stoneware and earthenware, sev-eral wine bottle bases, necks and finishes, fragments of a fine glass wine decanter, parts of a glass oil lamp, a delicate stemmed wine glass, several bases of stout drinking glasses called tumblers, and more. In the end, nearly 70 pieces

were spread out before me. Based on the types of ceramic wares and method of manufacture used to make the wine bottles I dated the assemblage to the period 1815-1835. Taken as a whole, the new “Sam Finz Collection” is an invaluable resource that provides a glimpse into the life and history of those who lived at 124 North Alfred Street during the first half of the 19th century. Future work will include an attempt to identify who these occupants were.

Research into this important collection is currently under-way by Alexandria Archaeology Museum intern, Stephanie Grimes (see her bio on page 4). Stephanie has already identified the imagery on one plate fragment as being the War of 1812 fortification known as Fort Gansevoort (see the full story on page 13). This plate, along with several more ceramics from Alexandria’s archaeological collec-tions, will be featured in a new Alexandria Archaeology Museum exhibit commemorating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. It may have taken a few decades, but now a least a small portion of the Sam Finz Collection will soon be on public display for all to see!

Paul Nasca and Sam Finz with the collection of donated artifacts.

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Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - Winter 2014 Page Nine

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Julia Wilbur Transcriptions

About 30 volunteers are moving forward on transcribing the scanned pages of Julia Wilbur's diary. They completed a first draft of the pages from 1860 through early 1866 at the end of January. The transcribed pages will be assigned to different volunteers for a "second pass." A third proofing will be followed by assembling the separate pages into com-bined files (probably one file per year), which hopefully will be completed by late spring or early summer.

Also, in late January, we had PDFs of the Pocket Diaries ready to share. Paula Whitacre annotated and wrote an intro-duction for two volumes--pre-Alexandria years and Alexandria years.

The volunteers are enjoying learning more about Wilbur, the process, and Civil War Alexandria. We never know what we will find. Yesterday, a volunteer shared an entry in which Wilbur wrote that she went into George Wash-ington's pew in an Alexandria church with a knife and removed some buttons from a cushion as a souvenir!

Thank you to the volunteers who have been working on tran-scribing Julia Wilbur’s diaries:

Lori Arbuckle, Gale Carter, Melissa Carter, Laci Chelette, Tom D'Amore, Christopher Goodwin, Jill Grinsted, Tom Gross, Janet Hughes, Maureen Lauran, Donna Martin, Wendy Miervaldis, Pat-ty Morrison, Mary Jane Nugent, Kim Ormiston, Trudy Pearson, Isabelle Pease, Mary Ray, Diane Riker, Kelly Rooney, Elizabeth Schneider, Cindy Slaton, Rachel Smith, Jeanne Springman, Paula Whitacre, Karen White, and Christina Wingate.

Alexandria ArchaeologySummer Camp 2014

July 21-25, 20149 AM to 3:30 PM

$400For 12-15 year olds

Scholarships Available

Help Alexandria’s City archaeologists excavate a real archaeological site! Learn professional excavat-ing, recording, and artifact processing methods. Uncover Alexandria’s buried past while protecting the City’s valu-able historic resources.

www.AlexandriaArchaeology.org

GW Parade Alert!Join FOAA and this year’s Parade Marshal, Pam Cressey, in the biggest parade in the country in

celebration of our Founding Father’s 282nd birthday.

Mon., Feb. 17, meet at noon on the 400 block of Gibbon Street between Royal and Pitt Streets.

Gather next to the white Archaeology van.Wear Red!

After the parade everyone is invited to a recep-tion at the American Legion, Post No. 24 at 400

Cameron Street.

FOAA Board Member Paula Whitacre presenting her Java Jolt, on Julia Wilbur, to a packed museum on January 25.

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Page Ten Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - Winter 2014

Fall Learning in the LabBy Paul Nasca

The laboratory at the Alexan-dria Archaeol-ogy Museum has been a busy place throughout the fall. This, of course, is due entirely to the dedicated work of the labora-tory volunteers, interns, and stu-dents. The main focus of every-one’s effort has been on the thousands of artifacts recently excavated in the on-going archaeological work at Shuter’s Hill. As part of the educational aspect of the Shuter’s Hill research program, Alexandria’s archaeologists, working in conjunction with The George Washington University, taught a field school class over the fall semester. Three un-dergraduate students (Laura Hellwig, Alexandra Karpa, and Magdalena Stuehrmann) and one graduate student (Den-ice Dressel) dedicated their Friday afternoons to learning archaeological field and laboratory methods. These young scholars split their time between excavating at Shuter’s Hill and working in the lab. While in the lab they gained a proficiency in laboratory procedures and learned artifact identification, dating, cataloging, and analytical techniques. The energy and enthusiasm that these students brought to lab was truly remarkable.

What is also remarkable is the sustained commitment and interest demonstrated by Alexandria’s laboratory volun-teers. Their knowledge of 18th- and 19th-century artifacts and laboratory procedure continues to grow with each laboratory session. To aid in this learning experience and to welcome new volunteers to the program, a laboratory orientation and artifact identification class was held in No-vember. This was a great success, with more than a dozen people in attendance. Both new and seasoned volunteers got to see and handle numerous types of ceramics, glass, and other artifacts. As one longtime laboratory volunteer frequently says, “Every time I’m here, I learn something new!”

Thanks to everyone who attended the orientation and to all of the volunteers who helped in the lab these past few months, including Mandy Ashton, Alianna Boszhardt, Jenny Caniglia, Caytie Carbone, David Chandler, Bridgette Degnan, Alexandra Erichson, Sue Gagner, Thomas Ge-heren, Renee Gondek, Alicia Guillama, Philippa Harrap, Heidi Krofft, Anna Lynch, Donna Martin, Sarah McEntee, Samantha Mitchell, Becca Peixotto, Mary Ray, Daniel Rosen, Shanna Roth, Julia Simon, Cindy Slaton, Whitney Stohr, Michael Stratmoen, Megumi Takahashi, and Sheila Wexler. Thanks also to Alexandria Archaeology interns Stephanie Grimes and Rebecca Siegal.

If you would like to join the team of laboratory volunteers or to receive notices of future laboratory training sessions, please contact Paul Nasca at paul.nasca@alexan-driava.gov. All are encouraged to stop in at the Alexan-dria Archaeology Museum to see the artifacts and laboratory work first-hand. Labora-tory volunteer days are either Friday or Saturday each week. Call ahead for a schedule (703-746-4399).

Field school students precataloging artifacts

Volunteers washing artifacts

VOTE ON MARCH 22!FOAA members in good standing are encouraged to at-

tend the FOAA Annual Meeting on Saturday, March 22 at10 a.m. in the Alexandria Archaeology Museum and vote

for the 2014-15 FOAA Board of Directors.The following members have been nominated to the

BoD for 3-year terms: Jay Roberts, Whitney Stohr, and Terilee-Edwards-Hewitt (ex officio). They join Kathy

Scheibelhoffer, Liz Kelley, and Katie Wagenblass who are up for re-election. Those elected will join the current BoD

consisting of: Marya Fitzgerald, Laura Heaton , Marga-rete Holubar, Mary Jane Nugent, Becca Siegal, Hoosey

Hughes, Joan Amico, and Paula Whitacre.If you are interested in joining the Board, please contact

Ruth Reeder at ruth.reeder@alexandriava.gov

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Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - Winter 2014 Page Eleven

Java Jolt Recaps

On Saturday, October 12, Jay Roberts gave a talk about his new book, River to Rails: A Guidebook to His-torical Markers in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. He researched historical markers throughout the city of Alexandria. The book talks about over 225 markers, all of which are located outside. Jay is in the process of doing a second edition of the book that

will include markers located inside buildings.

Everyone in attendance at his Java Jolt seemed to learn a lot, and after the PowerPoint presentation there was a good discussion, with the audience asking lots of ques-tions.

As part of the program, Shuman’s Baker donated a jelly cake. Some

Alexandria residents, and even some visitors, think of Shuman’s jelly cake as an Alexandria tradition. The thin layers of cake and jelly covered in pow-dered sugar and cut into diamond shapes was a hit with ev-eryone. Stay tuned for Jay’s second edition of Alexandria’s

historical markers.

On Saturday, October 19, for International Archaeology Day, Dr. Bernard Means from the Virtual Curation Laboratory at VCU came to the museum to talk about 3D scanning and printing of archaeological artifacts and other work that has been done at the VCL in Richmond. As part of the program, Dr. Means scanned our Clovis point, a ceramic piggy bank lid, and a pipe bowl in the shape of a bearded man’s head.

Most people in attendance had not seen a 3D scanner before. As Dr. Means mentioned in his presentation, it is useful for educational activities in archaeology. However, the feel of the 3D models is much different from the actual object. While the model may be the same size as the real artifact, the texture and weight are different.

In Dr. Means’ classes, he can use 3D models, so all the stu-dents can look at the objects during class. He does not have time to take real artifacts to class, lay them out, and pack them up properly at the end of class. With the 3D models, he can just put them all in a bag at the end of class and sort them out later when he has more time.

If you are interested in learning more about the Virtual Curation Laboratory, visit their blog at http://vcuarchaeolo-gy3d.wordpress.com

Jay Roberts

Jay’s new book

Shuman’s jelly cake

Bernard Means

Pipe bowl from the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop. Face is pos-sibly William Shakespeare.

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Page Twelve Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - Winter 2014

A Silver Lining to Sequestra-tion, Furloughs, and Government

ShutdownsBy Ruth Reeder

The first two weeks of October were busy ones for the Alexandria Archaeology Museum. Sequestration was in effect, folks were on furlough, and the government shut-down had shuttered the Smithsonian Institution. However, across the river in Old Town, history was hopping, as all of the Office of Historic Alexandria sites were not only open, but offering free admission to government workers. The Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association launched an ad campaign encouraging visitors to come to Alexandria and enjoy the hustle and bustle of charming Old Town. The ad campaign was a success, and our museum visitation spiked, with more than 1,000 visitors participating in our Annual Art Safari Potters’ Art event alone. Both weekend and weekday docents were kept busy with a steady stream of visitors.

We were pleased to be able to step in and serve as an alter-native to the Smithsonian and host a group of archaeolo-gists and teachers from all over the United States who were in town for Project Archaeology Coordinator’s Confer-ence. Our only regret was that their director, Jeanne Moe, having been furloughed, was unable to attend the event. Our Museum Educator, Ruth Reeder, had a delightful and informative time at an earlier conference in Bozeman, Montana, and has admired Jeanne’s work ever since.

After a tour of our facilities and meeting with our staff, Ruth received the following message:

Thank you for the amazing presentation at the Alexandria Archaeology Museum. We really enjoyed our visit. Fran’s description of the work you all are doing gave me goose bumps. Your museum truly is an example of public archae-ology at its best for other cities to emulate. We appreciated your fitting our group in at the last minute. It was definitely worth it! Please let us know if you ever need anything from Project Archaeology. Jeanne was touched by the picture of you two together!

Best regards,Courtney AgentenProject ArchaeologyMontana State UniversityBozeman, MT 59717

Francine Bromberg with Project Archaeology group

The Project Archaeology group trying their hand at the Hayti Archaeol-ogy Adventure Lesson.

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Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - Winter 2014 Page Thirteen

What Does a Picture Say? By Stephanie Grimes

“One of the greatest things you will find about working with us is that on any given day something completely unexpected happens and your day is nothing like you planned.” The Curator of Collections, Paul Nasca, said this to me on one of my first days interning for Alexandria Archaeology. He followed up by plopping a collection of ceramics and glassware onto my desk that was donated to the archaeology museum from the homeowner of 124 N St. Asaph Street. For the next few weeks I used this collection to learn about cataloguing, cleaning, and researching the museum’s artifacts. Since I am an art historian, the most fulfilling part of this project was identifying an illustration depicted on the center of a plate. This was an image of Fort Gansevoort on the Hudson River in New York.

As we sifted through the artifacts Paul no-ticed that the upper left corner of a small plate depicted a scene of a fort judging by the flag placed on top of a long, flat building. If we could identify the illustration we would be able to date not only the plate, but also to approximate the date for the assemblage of donated artifacts. Our major obstacle was working with the minimal information we had, which was merely a fragment of the image.

The next day I found myself hunched over a pile of resource books and the tiny plate fragment trying to match scene to any im-ages I could find. Paul handed me a resource book by Ellouise Baker Larsen, American Historical Views on Staffordshire China and encouraged me to look through the book. As opposed to focusing on the picture on the center of the plate, I decided to take a new approach and start with the border. I compared a sample of designs in the source-book with the floral border around the plate and noticed its close resemblance to the R.S. Stevenson designs of leaves and vines against a dark blue background. From there I started to research plates with this specific border design and came across a number of examples, one of which was a match for our plate! For an image of the complete plate see http://americanhistoricalstaffordshire.com/pottery/printed-designs/patterns/fort-gansevoort-new-york.

I learned that in 1807 New York City gave land to the fed-eral government, which was used to erect Fort Gansevoort for the War of 1812. The fort was originally made of red sandstone, then whitewashed, receiving the nickname “White Fort” or “Old White Fort.” The fort possessed 22 cannons during its usage. After the war it ceased to func-tion as a fort and became a location for picnic parties and full immersion baptisms until it was demolished in 1849. The image on the plate was created around 1830 by artist Charles Burton. It includes the fort near Tenth Avenue and Little West Twelfth Street along the Hudson, with moun-tains in the background and figures across the river picnick-ing.

For me, the process of tracking down the context of this plate was both fun and rewarding. In addition to learning a lot about the archeological process of cataloguing and dat-ing, I was able to apply my art history skills to research and identify an image from the War of 1812. For anyone mak-ing a trip up to New York City, you can still visit the site located in the Meatpacking District. There is both a street and a market named after Fort Gansevoort!

New York, Fort Gansevoort, transfer-printed pearlware plate, c.1830.

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Page Fourteen Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - Winter 2014

2013 Field SeasonBy Garrett Fesler

The year 2013 turned out to be an eventful 12 months of field projects for Alexandria Archaeology (AA) staff. Let us review the year that was and touch on some of the high-lights in the field.

The Slaughterhouse at Jefferson/Houston School

Over the course of the spring and early summer AA staff spear-headed the excava-tion of a

late nineteenth-century slaughterhouse located at Jefferson/Houston School. Owned by Benjamin Baggett in the 1870s and later by William and Charles Hellmuth in the 1880s, the slaughterhouse was represented in the ground by an 8 ft-deep cellar some 20 ft. by 22 ft. in size. Filled with brick rubble and artifacts, the cellar had a brick-lined well in its northwest corner. We were able to dig down nearly 5 ft. into the well until stopping at the water table. Because of an 1803 ordinance, animal slaughtering for commercial purposes was illegal in the city. In order to comply with the law, butchers established slaughterhouses just outside the city limits, and the Baggett/Hellmuth Slaughterhouse was located just a few steps to the west of the city line. Other butchers practiced their trade nearby in the West End along Duke Street near its intersection with Diagonal Road. The work on the slaughterhouse has opened up a window of research on the butchery industry in Alexandria and the marketing of meat to the city’s citizens.

The Wharf at Oronoco Street

AA staff monitored a city outfall remediation project at the foot of Oronoco Street in the spring. In order to carry out the project, city contractors cut deep trenches down the center of Oronoco Street to West Point, at the likely

location of one of the city’s first wharfs. Ac-cording to historian Ted Pulliam, the wharf at West’s Point was completed in early 1755, just in time to receive General Edward Braddock and his large contingent of soldiers, who thereafter set off into the interior in search of hostile French and Indians.

During the course of monitoring the project, some of the timbers for this early wharf were exposed, possibly the very wharf where General Braddock disembarked 258 years ago. AA archaeologists recorded the timbers in place, and then extracted several of them for later testing.

The Freeman Murray House

Born in 1859, Freeman Murray lived most of his adult life in a house on the 800 block of Princess Street, beginning in the 1880s, until his death in 1951. One of the city’s prominent African American citizens, Murray was deeply involved in the early civil rights movement as one of the founders of the Niagara Movement and the NAACP. A friend and ally of W.E.B. DuBois, Murray owned a printing company and published newspapers that promoted civil rights. Murray also broke boundaries in the art world and is considered to be the first professional African American art historian. According to later accounts by family members, Murray established his home on Princess Street as a “safe house” for African Americans under threat of violence and lynch-ing. According to descriptions, his house had secret pas-sageways and rooms for hiding escapees and a tunnel that led from a dry well in Murray’s yard to the waterfront to facilitate escaping fugitives.

AA archaeologists monitored a construction project in the late summer that took place on what was once Freeman

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Murray’s lot. A portion of the basement for Murray’s house was exposed, but no evidence of secret passageways or tunnels was observed. However, the back of the lot where the dry well once stood remains intact, and archaeological exploration can take place there in the future in a continued search for signs of Murray’s escape tunnel.

Shuter’s Hill Keeps on Keeping on

Throughout the summer and fall of 2013 several dozen vol-unteers gave up their Saturdays to help excavate the planta-tion site at Shuter’s Hill. On any given Saturday we had between three and thirteen volunteers digging. We contin-ued to open up units in the southeast quadrant of the site in order to expose a ditch/trench feature that appears to cor-respond to the eighteenth-century laundry building nearby. The working hypothesis by the end of the dig season is that if we follow this ditch feature to the east it may lead us to

the original main house, the man-sion built by John Mills in the early 1780s and later occupied by Ludwell Lee, fol-lowed by the Delaney family.

One of the more curious finds at Shuter’s Hill in 2013 was a piece of slate with the name “Willis Petty” etched into it. We believe that as a child Petty scratched his name into his school slate at some point in the 1880s. Exactly how a piece of his slate board came to rest at Shuter’s Hill is a bit of a mystery, given the fact that it does not appear that Petty ever resided on the property. As an adult, Willis Petty led a rather checkered life, if newspaper accounts are to be believed. He appears frequently in the pages of the Alexandria Times throughout the 1890s, usu-ally under arrest for fighting or accused of petty (!) crimes. In 1901 he was arrested and accused of viciously assaulting a woman, a crime that prompted a mob of people to gather at the courthouse in an abortive attempt to lynch him. The authorities secreted him to Fairfax for his protection. Later the victim refused to testify against him in court, and Petty was set free. He seems to have set himself on a law-abid-ing course after that, or at least he no longer got caught.

The Petty slate is a good example of when a single artifact can stimulate historical research. Because of the slate, we delved into research about a local citizen who struggled to make a go of it, someone who lived on the fringes, and by doing so we can begin to get a sense of an often forgotten group of people in Alexandria.

Shuter’s Hill was also the site of a college field school during the fall semester. Three undergraduate students from George Washington University—Laura Hellwig, Alex Karpa, and Magdalena Stuehrmann—and graduate student Denise Dressel from Goucher College excavated several units in a brick “patio” area next to the eighteenth-century laundry foundation. The students were able to isolate layers that appear to have been created when the laundry was in operation. From a relatively small area the students recovered approximately 3,000 artifacts, an assemblage of data that provides a glimpse into the operation of a planta-tion laundry and the enslaved Africans that worked there.

Summer Camp Digs Fort Ward

For a week in July, seventeen junior archaeolo-gists be-tween the

ages of 12 and 15 made the dirt fly at the Javins site at Fort Ward Park. The site was owned and occupied by a local African American family in the early part of the twentieth century. The Javins were one of a group of African Ameri-can families that put down roots at Fort Ward after the Civil War and established a thriving community. Although the temperatures soared during the week, the kids opened up almost a dozen test units, and recovered over 1,000 artifacts. In one of the test units the kids exposed part of a well, presumably the well used by the Javins family to collect fresh water. The findings made by the summer campers demonstrates that the site has great promise. We plan to return to Fort Ward Park for a week in July for the Alexandria Archaeology Summer Camp 2014! For online registartion go to, http://alexandriava.gov/historic/info/de-fault.aspx?id=28120#archaeology

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Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - Winter 2014 Page Fifteen

hanger. Three of the Minie balls are known as Williams cleaner bullets; these had a plunger on the back and were intended to be fired once every ten rounds to clean out the gun barrel. One of the other Minie balls is of French manu-facture having a telltale hollow, triangular-shaped base. The other four Minie balls are standard Union issue projec-tiles. Only one of the eight Minie balls shows evidence of having been fired. The lead round shot is an unfired 0.64 caliber ball. The Enfield bullet is an unfired, 0.50 caliber shell, with a conical shape and a hollow bottom. The sword hanger is rather simple and plain, and therefore probably belonged to a cavalry soldier rather than an officer.

2013 Field Volunteers:

Maria Abarca, Joanne Amorosi, Katie Barca, Monica Bonilla, Jennifer Caniglia, Mariah Cutler, Joshua Dow, Denice Dressel, Ella Fesler, Hannah Fitzmaurice, Peter Fitzmaurice, Andy Flora, Renee Gondek, Tom Gross, Laura Heaton, Laura Hellwig, Julianna Hul, Alex Karpa, Tommy Kester, Steve Kimbel, Ben Kirby, Lily Kleppertknoop, Ashley Koen, Donna Martin, Becca Merriman-Goldring, Tam Milhalovic, Kim Ormiston, Isabella Pease, Mary Ray, Kelsey Rooney, Shanna Roth, Suzanne Schaubel, Kelly Schindler, Sue Shuman, Becca Siegal, Charles Simpson, Blair Smith, Magdalena Stuehrmann, Kerry Taylor, and Karen Wilkins

Fort Ward Walkway

In 2014 the City of Alexandria plans to build an ADA-com-pliant walkway within the earthen walls of Fort Ward thus allowing people of differing levels of mobility to visit one of the best preserved Civil War forts in the region. AA ar-chaeologists tested in the path of the proposed walkway in order to ensure that no significant archaeological materials would be harmed or displaced. Our work included digging 48 test holes, several test units, and conducting systematic metal detecting throughout the full length of the planned

walkway.

Archaeologists recovered more than 325 artifacts from the test units, 51 artifacts from the metal detector sweeps, and sev-eral hundred more artifacts from the test units. Most of the artifacts are associ-

ated with a house that once stood in the center of the fort, built by Cassius and Rachel McKnight in the early 1890s. The McKnights were one of the founding families of the African-American neighborhood that sprang up at Fort Ward after the Civil War. Two of the more curious artifacts that pertain to the McK-night household are a brass medallion emblazoned with “AHS 1915,” and a Model T Ford hub cover. The medallion commemorates the opening of Alexandria High School in 1915. Based on the details of the Model T hub cover, it was made between 1914 and 1921. The proposed walkway will not cause any damage to

the McKnight site.

The archaeol-ogy testing also unearthed a small assemblage of Civil War artifacts, includ-ing eight Minie balls, a lead round shot, an Enfield rifle bullet, and a brass sword

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Page Sixteen Alexandria Archaeology Volunteer News - Winter 2014

Model T-Ford Hub Cover

Possible watch fob with ‘AHS 1915’ on it

Civil War artifacts from metal detecting

The FOAA email is moving!

In order to make it easier to add new mem-bers, this spring the FOAA email list will be moving from its current server to a new one hosted by Mail Chimp.

You don’t have to do anything – your email for the list will be automatically transferred.

You should expect to see emails from FriendsAlexArchaeology soon.

If you have any questions, feel free to con-tact Terilee Edwards-Hewitt at terilee.edwards-hewitt@alexandriava.gov.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Wednesday, February 12, at 7:30 p.m.Northern Virginia Chapter of ASV monthly meetingJames Lee Center, 2855 Annandale Rd, Falls Church A Late 19th-century Slaughterhouse in Old Town Alex-andriaPresentation by Becca Siegal and Garrett Fesler

Saturday, February 15, at 10 a.m.Alexandria Archaeology Museum, 105 N. Union St., #327.FOAA sponsored Java Jolt. Free and open to the public.African Americans of Alexandria, Virginia Beacons of Light in the Twentieth CenturyChar McCargo Bah, Christa Watters, Audrey P. Davis, Gwendolyn Brown-Henderson, and James E. Henson Sr. will discuss the little-known African American community of Alexandria’s twentieth-century. Experience the harrow-ing narratives of trials and triumphs as Alexandria’s African Americans helped to shape not only their hometown but also the world around them. Rutherford Adkins became one of the first black fighter pilots as a Tuskegee airman. Sam-uel Tucker, a twenty-six-year-old lawyer, organized and fought for Alexandria to share its wealth of knowledge with the African American community by opening its libraries to all colors and creeds. Discover a vibrant past that, through this record, will be remembered.

Saturday, February 15, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.Gunston Hall, 10709 Gunston Road, Mason Neck, Virginia.SYMPOSIUM: The Archaeology of Slavery in the Chesapeake Region

Cookin’ for the Big House: Virginia’s Enslaved Planta-tion Cooks and Their KitchensDr. Kelley F. Deetz, Assistant Professor of History and Director of the Public History Program, Roanoke College Excavating Franklin and Armfield’s Alexandria Slave PenDr. Elizabeth Crowell, Branch Manager, CRMPB, Fair-fax County Park Authority. Crowell’s very timely talk ties directly into the Golden Globe- winning film “12 Years a Slave” with archaeology done re: Franklin & Armfield in Alexandria. “. . . She would rather marry the negro under them circumstances, than to marry his Lordship with all his country”: The History and Archaeology of Eleanor But-ler and Saltwater CharlesDr. Julia King, Professor, Anthropology Department, St. Mary’s College of Maryland “The Devil’s Half-Acre”: Searching for Lumpkin’s Slave Jail in Richmond, Virginia

Dr. Matthew R. Laird, Partner and Senior Researcher, James River Institute for Archaeology, Inc. Free Black Life on the Chesapeake: A Look at The Hill Community of EastonStefan Woehlke and Tracy Harwood Jenkins, University of Maryland “No book, no convenience, no furniture, no comfort in the house”: Archaeology at Site 44SK0531 at the West-ern Branch Reservoir in Suffolk, VirginiaGarrett Fesler, Archaeologist, Office of Historic Alexandria, Alexandria Archaeology A Well-Travelled Mollusk: Possible Evidence for a Slave Activity Area at Gunston Hall PlantationDavid Shonyo, Archaeologist, Gunston Hall Plantation$50 Fee includes program, light breakfast, lunch, and Man-sion tour; $40 for Friends and Docents of Gunston, FOFA, and individuals registering before February 8. Register here https://secure.qgiv.com/for/gunhal/event/47123/

Monday, February 17, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.George Washington Birthday ParadeJoin FOAA and Parade Marshal Pam Cressey and march through Old Town in “The largest parade celebrating Washington’s birthday in the USA!” Meet at noon on Gib-bon Street between Royal and Pitt Streets. After the parade everyone is invited to a reception at the American Legion, Post No. 24 at 400 Cameron Street.

Thursday, February 20, at 7:30 p.m.Alexandria Civil War Sesquicentennial Lecture Series: Excavations at the Contrabands and Freedmen’s Cem-etery and the Concept of the Proper Coffin in the Mid-19th CenturyLloyd House, 220 N. Washington StreetDr. Steven J. Shephard, a retired City archaeologist with Alexandria Archaeology, will provide a special look at one of Alexandria’s – and indeed Virginia’s – most significant burial grounds. From 1864 to 1869, the Contrabands and Freedmen’s Cemetery was the burial place for at least 1,800 African Americans seeking their freedom behind Union lines. Archaeologists conducted a series of four excavations in preparation for developing the property into a memo-rial park. The results of the excavations and documentary research indicate that there was an idea of what a “proper” coffin was like in mid-19th-century America. In his illus-trated lecture, Dr. Shephard, one of the Freedmen’s Cem-etery project researchers, will discuss the history of the cemetery, some results of the excavations, and the idea of a “proper” coffin.

FRIENDS OF ALEXANDRIA ARCHAEOLOGY (FOAA) ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FORM

Contributions to FOAA are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law. FOAA membership discount begins once pay-ment is received and is good for one year. Please make payment payable to FOAA and mail to:

FOAA P.O. Box 320721 Alexandria, VA 22320

$20 Individual $25 Family $50 Sponsor $100 Benefactor $500 Corporate

Name____________________________________________________________________________________________

Address___________________________________________________________________________________________

City________________________________________State________________Zip______________________________

Phone________________________________email_______________________________________________________Include email address and receive the newsletter electronically and in full color!

Tuesday, March 4, from 6 to 8 p.m.Morrison House Hotel,116 South Alfred StreetMorrison House Presents: Joanna BlakeThe Story of the Freedmen’s Cemetery Memorial Bas-ReliefsSculptor Joanna Blake will discuss her work which includes the two relief pan-els honoring those buried at the Alexan-dria's Contraband and Freedmen’s Cem-etery Memorial and an eight by ten foot bronze sculpture commemorating the two-hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Bladensburg in the War of 1812. Her design for the Virginia Women’s Monument in Richmond was selected as a semifinalist in a competition to com-memorate the struggles and accomplishments of Virginia’s women throughout the state’s history.

Wednesday, March 5, at 7 p.m.Nannie J. Lee Recre-ation Center,1108 Jefferson Street, AlexandriaJourney to be Free: Descendants Return-ing Home to AlexandriaAs part of the National Civil War Project, a radical multi-city, multi-year collaboration between four universities and five performing arts organizations, Arena Stage, in partnership with the Office of Historic Alexandria, will host a performance and facilitate a Community Conversation commemorating the Alexandria Contrabands and Freed-

men’s Ceme-tery. Historian C. R. Gibbs and the All Souls Choir will perform a piece that will explore the history of Alexandria, the cemetery and the evocative music of the period. http://tickets.arenastage.org/single/Select-Seating.aspx?p=18058

Saturday, March 22 at 10 a.m. Alexandria Archaeology Museum 105 North Union Street, #327FOAA Annual Meeting and Election of Board of Direc-tors See page 10 for details.